Theatre

Life Is a Dream

Pedro Calderón de la Barca left a gift for Freud from the 17th Century. In a play that investigates our conscious and unconscious desires, he put monarchy on the couch. Portraying a king who attempts to thwart a prophecy, Life Is a Dream's political and religious themes - free will versus determination, power versus virtue - have acquired psychological resonance in our time. By keeping his son locked in a tower in a feral state and then releasing him to the court, King Basilio's experiment pits nature against nurture.

In Tom Creed's assured production for Rough Magic, he lets the play's oratory do the work. Scaffolding placed at either end of a stripped traverse stage provides the only visual aid to a cast that, for the most part, deftly negotiates Calderon's rhetoric. Frequent asides to the audience explain subtexts and motivations, which, in Jo Clifford's blunt translation, are often very funny. Characters such as the betrayed Rosaura and the prince's jailor, Clotaldo, are simultaneously tragic and comic. They switch from a complex debate on generosity, gratitude and honour to more conventional business with disguise and intrigue. Hilary O'Shaughnessy and Barry McGovern excel in these roles, as does Peter Daly as Rosara's comic sidekick, regaling us with an irreverent commentary.

"Everyone who lives is only dreaming," is Prince Segismundo's refrain, as he struggles to make sense of his father's attempt to play with destiny. This serious core, the relationship between father and son, is less than convincing here. The rich Oedipal theme is smothered by over-strident exchanges between Paul Reid's Segismundo and Mark Lambert's ranting king, Basilio. Reiteration of the dream motif dilutes its potency, too. But then, hearing about someone else's dreams always requires a little patience.